


Nu-Metal Sweater Vest

by LightningLemonade



Series: A Mathematician With A Microphone [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Boarding School, Gen, Hermann's hobby is rock music, Minor mention of Dietrich Gottlieb, Newt's Newt, Science friendship, The bonus chapter has hints of Newmann if you squint, Trans Male Character, TransMale!Hermann, Vanessa and Hermann are childhood friends, lots of bands referenced because I am a little bit of a music nerd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-06 23:56:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4241526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightningLemonade/pseuds/LightningLemonade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt Geizsler is known for his proclamations and desire to be a rock star. Sometimes he's even a successful one. But Hermann Gottlieb is the real rockstar of K-Science.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Whoo, right. I said my next work would be a Library AU and I've churned this out instead. I wrote this as a slightly elongated coping mechanism for my own problems (I'm a transguy), built on it a bit with an idea of Hermann being his dorky self while singing rock music and here we are. Enjoy!

All his life has been planned before him. He will go to a boarding school in England, he will study some form of science, he will be married and have a child once he has a teaching post in a prestigious university.

This is what he's been told all his life - except Hermann has other ideas. He wants to be a pilot. He wants to be an astronaut, not a teacher.

Unfortunately he goes to boarding school in England like his parents said, the same one his elder sister Karla goes to.

"It'll be good for you. Karla's doing well there and so will you." his father tells him.

It's a single sex school and he hates it - stuck in a place filled with people he's not, who tease him for his strong German accent, his need for reading glasses at so young an age and difficulty socialising, while going through a puberty that's so very, very wrong.

He doesn't see much of his sister - she's three years older than him and established herself a life at this school, with not much time for her younger sibling. He still studies science - physics, maths, computers and space hold his fascination so very dearly. 

The first tiny relief from this pre-planned hell his parents arranged for him is meeting his first friend - Vanessa Hadley, a mixed race girl with explosive curly hair, who's ridiculously tall for her age and constantly teased about it. Vanessa and Hermann unite in gangly teenage awkwardness, smoke pilfered cigarettes, help each other with work (Hermann's surprisingly terrible at English grammar and Vanessa has real trouble understanding division & negative numbers.) and get called lesbians and worse. Neither of them care.

Fast forward a few years. They're fifteen, Hermann's visiting Vanessa in London for Easter holidays, it's Vanessa's birthday and she's insisted on going to a local music venue for a rock, metal & punk night. They're underage - "The event says eighteen and over, if we get in it'll be a miracle, 'Nessa" - but Vanessa's pretty certain they can sneak in. Hermann wears two sports bras and the baggiest shirt he can find to at least try and hide his developing chest. He even stuffs his too-long hair into a beanie.

Vanessa on the other hand, is wearing a hot pink lacy bra, peeking brazenly through a ripped up band shirt. If Hermann liked girls, he'd probably have spent most of the night physically attached to Vanessa.

Through sheer luck (though more likely due to the laziness of the venue doorman), they get in. Vanessa scores them some drinks - "Don't, for the love of god Vanessa, get drunk. I don't want to carry you home." - and they take up a place to the side of the stage, watching the equipment get set up and the bass guitarist strike out some test chords. The amps are on and live, the deep twang of the bass electrifies the room and triggers some unknown feeling in Hermann's stomach.

He doesn't think about it much until the first band starts playing - fast, loud, the singer bellowing about being a rebel from the waist down.

This music feels alive, and it feels good. Instead of the classical & operatic arias he grew up with that sharpened his mind with almost clinical precision, this vibrates its way through his entire being. The steady rhythm of the drums is flooding his senses and pulling his body to the forefront, making him feel more than just a bag of flesh and bones carrying a brain that's in it for the knowledge, he's an actual person.

The night progresses, he ends up in the impromptu mosh pit with Vanessa, the pair throwing themselves around with the crowd and screaming along with the singers. Hermann's never felt like he belongs somewhere before. He finds he absolutely loves the sensation.

In the morning, Hermann's going through Vanessa's CDs and being told which to try. He ends up borrowing quite a few - when he heads back to school, a quarter of his suitcase is now full of plastic jewel cases which he's sworn to care for.

His battered CD player which used to be reserved for audio books and language learning aids is now constantly on, blasting out old school rock, punk of all types and heavy metal. Where he once listened to Schubert, his ears are assaulted by Slipknot or Mastodon.

Over the years he builds up a collection of his own - music and merchandise, a pinboard of gig tickets. Vanessa's proud of what she started. "You seem happier these days, my friend." she says frequently. She's right, of course.

It's 2007 and he's just turned eighteen. He's given up appearing as his parents wished, instead wearing baggy trousers and sweater vests to hide his chest and curves. His mother's sad expression is the only thing that can persuade him to dress in better fitting clothes, but it's a very rare occasion. It's the summer before he departs for university - Cambridge, to do Physics and Mathematics.

Vanessa's visiting him in Germany for three weeks. She's earned a place in London Metropolitan, studying Chemistry and Psychology. She's also got a massive crush on Hermann's sister, which seems to be reciprocated much to Hermann's joy and embarrassment - "If you two get caught making out by Mutter or Vater, I didn't know about this." He mutters, red-faced but smiling regardless.

It's also the summer he's decided, that when he gets back to England, he's going to join a band. Whether they do covers or original songs, Hermann hasn't figured that out. Whether he'll even attach his name to it, he also hasn't figured out either. But Hermann knows that he will sing. Like those he'd seen in all those gigs he went to with Vanessa. Like he's done for the last three years to the music he's been introduced to and discovered since. By god, he will sing. Rough, loud, unapologetic and wild.

He tells Karla, Bastien and Vanessa his plans, all of them. They stop calling him by his birth name, and start calling him Hermann. He does not discuss this with his parents. He does leave a letter explaining his gender on the day he goes back to England. He never gets a response, but they also never visit him. 

When summer passes and he returns to England, Hermann changes his name legally, gets his hair cut into something more masculine, obtains several binders and starts looking out for any requests from local rock bands for a singer.

Hermann ends up joining the university's rock group, who play a lot at the student bars. They get a bit derisive about letting a guy who's main wardrobe incorporates sweater vests frontline, but a quick demonstration of his growing vocal range (in both English and German) eliminates the style naysayers. He can't wait to get on testosterone, then his voice will stop being so off for a man. 

2009's a big year. Hermann's graduating a year early, he's on his seventh month of testosterone injections and Vanessa and Karla are moving in together. At the couple's house-warming party, Karla keeps introducing her work friends to Hermann as her "rock star little brother". Hermann doesn't think he's ever smiled so much.

In 2010, he's finishing his masters in Physics and Robotics while competing in a National Battle of the Bands. The imaginatively named _Three Scientists & A Barista_ hit third place with their cover of The Mars Volta's _Televators_. Hermann's more proud of himself than when he graduated the first time.

2012, Hermann's halfway through his PhD on astrophysics and recovering from major surgery. Bastien's staying with him in his flat in Cambridge, to help care for Hermann through the first two weeks. It's good for them both - they haven't seen each other much over the years except for summers and holidays, which is always with the whole family. Hermann and Bastien take the time to actually get to know one another.

Vanessa and Karla take over when Bastien has to return to university. Vanessa's waving her left hand around a few weeks later, screeching that she's engaged. Hermann's ecstatic, but unable to lift his arms enough to hug her. Still, it's worth it for the new flat chest. When he's recovered enough, he hugs his best friend as tightly as possible and calls her sister. 

In early 2013 he realises he can stop wearing so many layers and such baggy clothing. He tries but realises the whole sweater vests and stuffy professor look is something he can't let go of. It's become an impenetrable armour of fabric, keeping prying eyes from working out he's not quite right in body. So the clothes stay as they always have.

On the first of August, 2013, his best friend and elder sister tie the knot. Somehow, despite the strained relationship between Hermann and his parents, the entire Gottlieb family attends without much incident - even Dietrich turns up, and no one's seen him for over ten years. Hermann stands on Vanessa's side in the registry office - "Hermann, I don't care, you're my best man. You get to wear a fancy suit, you'll love it.".

So he does, a well cut dark grey three piece. Hermann's never felt more handsome and he thanks his friend profusely. At the ceremony, he grins and applauds when Karla dips Vanessa for the "you may kiss the bride" part. Hermann does the obligatory best man speech and doesn't embarrass either bride, much to their disappointment.

"You two have more stories about me, I do not want to give either of you retaliation rights." he mutters to them much later, over the fifth glass of champagne.

Hermann sings at their reception as well - The 69 Eyes' _Suspiria Snow White_ for Vanessa, Panic! At The Disco's _Hurricane_ at Karla's request. Lars Gottlieb walks out of the hall when Hermann starts singing, but their mother stays. Karla tells him later that she seemed transfixed by Hermann's performance, in a good way. Hopefully one day, his mother at least will try to understand. 

Two days later, the newlyweds depart for America for their honeymoon - a week in New York, a fifty hour train ride to the West Coast and another week in Seattle. 

On K-Day, Hermann's transfixed. The massive beast that's laying waste to San Francisco is simultaneously terrifying and igniting his scientific curiosity - _How did it get here? Has it been dwelling under the ocean for millennia? Why did it activate now? Is it lost? How can it be stopped?_

He freaks out when he remembers where in the world Vanessa and Karla could be. He calls Karla, then Vanessa - who does pick up, thank god. They're fine, they weren't at the West Coast yet. They took a day out to explore Chicago and Hermann's never been so glad his sisters are semi-impulsive people. 

In the six days it takes for Trespasser to be taken down, several more miracles have occurred. Hermann's father gets in touch with him. Lars even uses the right name and pronouns for him. Even more momentously, he's requested Hermann's help.

Hermann agrees. He never would have thought a giant monster from the deep would bring himself and his father back to speaking terms, but...then again, considering how stubborn they both are, it's not that surprising. He chuckles to himself darkly, thinking that it really must be the end of the world if Lars Gottlieb is accepting Hermann for who he is.

It's late 2014. Hermann's finished his PhD and delights in having the gender-unspecified title of Doctor. He's working with Doctor Lightcap on the PONS system for the Jaegers he's helped design - giant armoured machines to face these monsters from the deep, the Kaiju. Hermann lets some of this slip to his new academic email friend, Newt, who's response involved a lot of caps lock declarations of "It's like Gundam or Full Metal Panic!" and "DUDE THIS IS SO AWESOME".

A quick search online after one of the many 18-hour work days leads him to think yes, this is like an anime. Only these are far more realistic. (which he may tell Newt. And they may get into a five day long argument over how mecha in said anime couldn't work in the real world, after which Hermann's repeatedly called "a total killjoy.")

The Jaegers are one of the most impressive developments in human history. Brawler Yukon is something Hermann is both proud of and detests - proud of his work that helped make the Jaegers a reality, detests it because of the sheer lack of safety employed when making Yukon.

It's 2015, Brawler Yukon's successfully taken down Karloff and Hermann's been watching the whole thing from a tiny television in the medical bay. He's been incapacitated for nearly a month due to a part of Yukon falling onto him in the testing bay, shattering his femur and hip. The doctors keep saying he'll recover just fine, but the dull constant ache tells him differently.

Three months later, he's relearned to walk but needs a cane for full mobility. Hermann puts in a recommendation for tighter safety regulations in Jaeger bays. 

Now the Jaegers are demonstrated to work, Hermann's focus goes towards discovering the exact location of where the Kaiju are coming from. He keeps up his correspondence with Newt, who's currently churning out paper after paper on Kaiju biology. Newt's got hold of samples that aren't highly contaminated by radiation and his joy translates into barely comprehensible emails at 2AM.

They meet in person in 2017 at a PPDC-arranged conference. They get thrown out of a coffee shop for arguing, nearly get arrested for causing a public disturbance and Newt gets into a fight at a bar for showing off his tattoo sleeve of Karloff and Trespasser. Somehow they manage not to meet again until 2020, when they're both assigned to the Hong Kong Shatterdome's single laboratory.

On his first day of sharing a laboratory with Dr Newton Geiszler, Hermann counts at least three infractions to basic safety, eight times of being hassled to explain why he uses chalkboards and a constant sense of personal outrage at Geiszler's trashy taste in music. There's far too much Katy Perry being played and Hermann's close to abandoning the lab to find his beloved iPod until finally, Geiszler's shuffle has the decency to jump from overly happy pop music to Iron Maiden's _Wrathchild_. The mathematician internally sighs in relief. _Redemption in acceptable tastes._

Still, bringing his iPod to the lab is probably sensible if Geiszler's going to insist on playing his varied playlist.

Ah, of course the insufferable little shit changes it.

_Hey hey you you I wanna be your girlfriend..._

Hermann gets his iPod.

They eventually work out an arrangement, which boils down to Hermann yelling at Newton to "use some bloody headphones, you inconsiderate arse!"

It only holds about forty percent of the time. Forty-three percent, if you wanted to be accurate. 

Somehow, in the five years they're forced to work in the same laboratory together, Newton doesn't find out what's on Hermann's iPod. Despite Hermann filing complaint forms only when Newton's blasting pop music for hours on end, never when playing rock or metal - Newt never twigs Hermann's musical tastes.

He doesn't even notice the happy smirk on Hermann's face or occasional mouthing along to whatever library crossover happens to be reverberating around the lab. (which is probably a good thing when Newton's in a Mindless Self Indulgence phase - Hermann's always a bit too close to loudly singing along and probably freaking Newt out in the process.)

When Lars Gottlieb starts declaring his support for the Coastal Wall program, Hermann sends him a scathing handwritten letter and formally disowns his father. It's unprecedented and has Newton using his headphones constantly in order to not piss Hermann off further.

Life goes on. Jaegers drop like flies, Oblivion Bay fills up, the Coastal Wall keeps on being built. 

The days and hours before Operation Pitfall are some of the most stressful of Hermann's life. First, Newton drifts with a Kaiju brain alone on a Pons system made from junk equipment. Then, the little biologist is sent out to go obtain another brain, from a gangster that Pentacost has a special arrangement with. As luck would have it, while Newton's in the boneslums of Hong Kong, the Double Event Hermann predicted occurs.

Two Jaegers down, one incapacitated and the untested team in a rebuilt Gipsy Danger are on the field. Against all odds, they succeed. Against all hope, Newton's voice crackles through the LOCCENT channels, screeching about how he's had a knife stuffed up his nose by "that one eyed bitch Chau" and nearly got eaten by a Kaiju but he's getting a damn brain, oh and bring my equipment please! Hermann's never been and probably never will be so glad to hear his colleague's voice.

When he meets Newton at Otachi's fall site next to what looks like an infant Kaiju, he nearly hugs his contrary genius-idiot of a friend. A few minutes later, they're arguing and working like normal until Hermann stops it with the declaration of "Newton, we're going to do this together."

"Y-you would do that for me? Or well, you would do that with me?"

"Well, I don't think I have much choice at this point."

The Drift is a mess, silence with noise rushing past. Memories that aren't his own flood his mind, glimpses of himself through Newton's eyes slip past on the way to mass that is the baby Kaiju.

Nothing can prepare him for the sheer _alien_ nature of the hivemind, nor the feeling of being knitted into existence. It's no wonder he loses the contents of his stomach into the nearby toilet. 

They rush back to LOCCENT, they relay the information they gleaned from the drift. They watch Pentacost and Chuck sacrifice themselves, exclaim in relief when Gipsy Danger goes through the breach with the dying Slattern.

When Mako's, then Raleigh's escape pods emerge and Raleigh's breathing again, they collapse into each other and slump into Tendo. Herc - Marshall Hansen, now - is bellowing orders, telling everyone to stop the clock and the Shatterdome erupts into shrieks of joy, applause and a general feeling of _we fucking did it, we saved the world._

Newton throws his arm around Hermann's neck and pulls him in for a tight hug. "You're one hell of a rockstar, dude."

Hermann's okay with this. It is true, after all.


	2. Bonus Chapter: Post Drift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the apocalypse is cancelled, K-Science converge in the lab for alcohol and a chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't going to do another chapter, but this popped into my head.

The pilots have been recovered and hauled off to medical. The Apocalypse Cancellation party is in full swing across the entire Shatterdome. Hermann left the celebration in LOCCENT - if this was pre K-Day he'd be fully in there drinking with the rest of them. 

However he's so tired after pulling all those late nights refining his prediction models, preparations for Pitfall, Drifting with Newt and contact with an alien hivemind.

So instead, Hermann's in the lab on his own, with a bottle of whiskey he hijacked from the impromptu party supplies. Well, it was Jack Daniels, but it'll do for now. He'd even plugged his aged iPod into Newt's speaker system, letting his music collection reverberate around the lab for once.

_I like my coffee black just like my metal..._

Newt wanders into the room while Hermann's searching for suitable drinking containers. "Dude, why did you never tell me?" he whines.

Hermann sighs. "What in particular are you referring to? There's a lot you might be asking about."

He finds two somewhat clean mugs and pours out some of his commandeered liquor.

"Definitely the singing thing, you're a fucking badass! I never would have thought of you doing that _ever_ , man." Newt's voice is tinged with pride.

Hermann hands over one of the mugs to his colleague, smirking slightly. "Hence why I never told you."

_I can't wait for you to shut me up..._

Newt wraps his hands around the mug, staring into it thoughtfully. "Could you...could you sing to me sometime? Or, wait, sing when you're in the same room as me? I mean, I've seen and heard it in your memories from the Drift, but that's not the same as hearing it myself. And I'd kind of like to, dude. Hear it, that is."

Hermann takes a gulp of the alcohol before answering. "I'd be open to this. As long as you don't try to get me to sing some of your godawful pop music."

The biologist breaks out into a scratchy cackle. "I cannot believe you man, you made official complaints about the stuff you didn't like."

A different song bursts through the little speakers on Newt's desk.

_Are you worth your weight in gold? Cause you're behind my eyelids when I'm all alone..._

The mathematician smiles softly at the familiar lyrics, puts his mug down and starts singing along. His voice is a little out of practice, a little bit hoarse from exhaustion, but still powerful and melodious.

_Hey! Hey! We are a hurricane! Drop our anchors in a storm._

Memories of Karla and Vanessa's wedding flow forth as he sings. They've been married for twelve years now, still going strong.

_Hey! They will never be the same, A fire in a flask to keep us warm._

Hermann sways to the beat, not as energetically as he could before the war, but still in time. 

_Fix me, or conflict me. I'll take anything. Fix me, or just conflict me. Cause I'll take anything._

Newt sits, staring up at his lab partner, transfixed in awe. When the song finishes and Hermann's iPod starts on a complex heavy metal instrumental track, the younger man applauds and whoops, making the tips of Hermann's ears go pink.

"Dude, can we do a duet?"

"I suppose that would be agreeable."

"That one you just did is pretty duet-y."

"Duet-y is not a word, Newt. But yes, we can at least give it a go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First song: Mindless Self Indulgence - Shut Me Up
> 
> Second song: Panic! At the Disco - Hurricane
> 
> The instrumental track referenced was Trivium - The Crusade.
> 
> ALSO: My fantastic friend Hanan made some goddamn FAN ART of this fic! http://www.hanandraws.com/post/122898197588/aaaannd-ive-finished-it-here-have-some-hermann
> 
> Edit: I finally made a playlist of all the tracks referenced! http://8tracks.com/8bitgoggles/nu-metal-sweater-vest

**Author's Note:**

> The only two songs not referenced by name, the one in the first gig Nessa and Herms go to is Marylin Manson's Disposable Teens. The second that Newt switches to in the lab is Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend.


End file.
